An Infrared 2D-COS Study of Fibril Formation

Aprovat per Decret de l'Alcaldia de 06-07-200

Molecular Characterization of the Viroporin Function of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Nonstructural Protein 2B

Nonstructural protein 2B of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus (FMDV) is comprised of a small, hydrophobic, 154-amino-acid protein. Structure-function analyses demonstrated that FMDV 2B is an ion channel-forming protein. Infrared spectroscopy measurements using partially overlapping peptides that spanned regions between amino acids 28 and 147 demonstrated the adoption of helical conformations in two putative transmembrane regions between residues 60 and 78 and between residues 119 and 147 and a third transmembrane region between residues 79 and 106, adopting a mainly extended structure. Using synthetic peptides, ion channel activity measurements in planar lipid bilayers and imaging of single giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) revealed the existence of two sequences endowed with membrane-porating activity: one spanning FMDV 2B residues 55 to 82 and the other spanning the C-terminal region of 2B from residues 99 to 147. Mapping the latter sequence identified residues 119 to 147 as being responsible for the activity. Experiments to assess the degree of insertion of the synthetic peptides in bilayers and the inclination angle adopted by each peptide regarding the membrane plane normal confirm that residues 55 to 82 and 119 to 147 of 2B actively insert as transmembrane helices. Using reverse genetics, a panel of 13 FMD recombinant mutant viruses was designed, which harbored nonconservative as well as alanine substitutions in critical amino acid residues in the area between amino acid residues 28 and 147. Alterations to any of these structures interfered with pore channel activity and the capacity of the protein to permeabilize the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to calcium and were lethal for virus replication. Thus, FMDV 2B emerges as the first member of the viroporin family containing two distinct pore domains

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p < 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics

Evaluation of Care Quality in Primary Health Care Centers

INTRODUCCIÓN: La calidad de la atención como política sanitaria es considerada una estrategia para el logro de la equidad en salud. OBJETIVOS: Evaluar las características y la calidad de atención de los centros de atención primaria de la salud (CAPS). MÉTODOS: Se realizó un estudio transversal evaluativo, que involucró a 89 CAPS de las provincias de Buenos Aires y Entre Ríos, que se autoevaluaron bajo la supervisión de un equipo docente de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Se evaluaron 200 estándares, agrupados en las siguientes dimensiones: Conducción y gestión (CG), Recursos humanos (RH), Registros e información (RI), Actividades de organización (AO), Normas de atención (N), Actividades del equipo de salud sobre la comunidad (AC), Participación social (PS), ReferenciaContrarreferencia (RF), Planta física (PF), Recursos materiales (RM) e Insumos (I). RESULTADOS: Sólo el 18% de los CAPS cuentan con un equipo de salud básico. El nivel de calidad global fue de 58±14%. En cuanto a las dimensiones, el ranking fue: I 87%, RM 70%, AO 66%, AC 63%, PF 61%, CG 55%, RF 55%, N 47%, RH 43%, RI 41%, PS 32%. CONCLUSIONES: Estos resultados permiten establecer un diagnóstico de situación en cada CAPS para sustentar planes de mejora específicos y un diagnóstico integral para respaldar la definición de ejes estratégicos en las políticas sanitarias.INTRODUCTION: The quality of care as health policy is considered a strategy to attain health equity. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the characteristics and care quality in primary health care centers (PHCC). METHODS: An evaluative cross-sectional study was conducted. It involved 89 PHCC from the provinces of Buenos Aires and Entre Ríos. A self-assessment of care quality was performed under supervision of an advisory team from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of La Plata. Two hundred (200) standards were evaluated according to the following dimensions: Leadership and Management (LM), Human Resources (HR), Records and Information (RI), Organization Activities (OA), Norms and Guides (NG), Community Activities (CA), Social Participation (SP), Referral system (RS), Physical plant (PP), Material resources (MR) and Supplies (S). RESULTS: Only 18% of PHCC have a basic health team. The overall quality level was 58±14%. In regard to the dimensions, the ranking was: S 87%, MR 70%, OA 66%, CA 63%, PP 61%, LM 55%, RS 55%, NG 47%, HR 43%, RI 41%, SP 32%. CONCLUSIONS: These results allow to perform a situational diagnosis of each PHCC to support specific improvement plans and a comprehensive diagnosis to define strategic priorities for health policies.Fil: Arrondo Costanzo, Fernanda. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Barragán, Santiago Luis. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Etchegoyen, Graciela Susana. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Paganini, Jose Maria. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentin